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LOT 0115
Italic Banded Agate Scarab with Kneeling Warrior in Gold Mount
3RD CENTURY B.C.
1 in. (5.24 grams, 25 mm).
Scarab bezel with carapace detailing and intaglio of a kneeling male nude wearing a helmet, holding a shield, sword and a spear; set into a later gold swivel ring; supplied with a museum-quality impression.
ProvenanceEnglish private collection.
Acquired on the English art market.
This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate number no.13110-248399.
See Boardman, J. and Vollenweider, M-L., Catalogue of the Engraved Gems and Finger Rings, I: Greek and Etruscan, Oxford, 1978, item 237; The Metropolitan Museum of Art, object number 48.11.1.; Chadour, A.B. Rings. The Alice and Louis Koch Collection, volume I, Leeds, 1994, item 123 for intaglio.
FootnotesThe intaglio can depict Capaneus, a legendary, strong, skilled, but arrogant warrior. He was one of the Seven Against Thebes, who boasted that not even Zeus could stop him from scaling the city walls. However, as he climbed them, Zeus struck him down with a bolt of lightning, illustrating divine punishment for his hubris. Evadne, his wife, then threw herself onto the funerary pyre in her grief. The story of strength but excessive pride was reflected in Dante's Inferno, where Capaneus is in the seventh circle as a condemned blasphemer.
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AUCTIONS:
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LOT 0115
Italic Banded Agate Scarab with Kneeling Warrior in Gold Mount
Sold for (Inc. bp): £11,700
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Greek Red-Figure Bell Krater
Campanian, 340-325 B.C.Estimate: £3,000 - 4,000 (+bp*)
Opening Bid: £1,500
With notable added white details; Side A: woman moving to her right while holding a cista, dressed in a chiton clinched at the waist, with a himation draped over her left arm, her hair adorned with a sakkos; Side B: profile head of a woman wearing a patterned sakkos and radiated stephane, intricate earrings and necklace of beads, objects in the field; beneath the handles, palmettes with floral elements. 585 grams, 18 cm high
Ex Rev. & Mrs T.S. Hichens, Cornwall with Charles Ede, 1981 (Stock No.8370). Ex Mrs B. Shankes, November 1986. This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate no.13068-248976.
Bell kraters were commonly used in regions of ancient Italy for mixing and serving wine during communal gatherings, thanks to their wide shape and flared mouth. These vessels also served as artistic expressions, reflecting the cultural tastes of the time. The Chevron Group is the conventional name for a group of ancient Apulian red-figure vase painters who were active in Southern Italy between approximately 335-310 BC. They are named for their distinctive use of a band of chevron patterns to encircle the rims of the small kraters (mixing vessels) they decorated. -
Graeco-Parthian Bronze Ring with Courtesan Holding a Flower
2nd-1st century B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £39
Comprising a slender hoop and an oval bezel with a standing female figure holding a flower. 4.91 grams, 24.51 mm overall, 19.94 mm internal diameter (approximate size British T 1/2, USA 9 3/4, Europe 21.89, Japan 21)
London, UK, art market, 1980s. Private collection, London, UK. -
Bronze Military Standard Finial of an Ibex
Transcaucasia, 13th-6th century B.C.Estimate: £8,000 - 10,000 (+bp*)
Opening Bid: £4,000
Wth a rounded body and prominent raised neck, a tubular muzzle with stylised eyes and ears and a small, slightly open mouth; a ring with a chain and a large carnelian sphere beneath the chin; a wide incised groove above the front legs, perhaps intended to represent muscles; a long slit beneath the abdomen; standing on a rectangular platform with a pin for insertion to a wooden shaft; accompanied by a custom-made display stand. 643 grams total, ibex: 15 cm high
Acquired in Vienna, Austria, in the 1990s. Collection of N.M., former Israeli Ambassador to Austria (1998–2000). Private collection, London. Accompanied by an academic report by Dr Raffaele D’Amato. This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate number no.13039-247908.
In Scythian art, the ibex was often depicted in dynamic ‘animal style’ symbolising life, strength, and perhaps cosmic struggles, potentially linked to seasonal cycles or fertility, showing its sacred status as a totem animal alongside mouflons. The realistically depicted posture of the animal testifies to the ancient masters' keenness of observation and of their skill in rendering the character of the animal in metal. The posture recalls more archaic (7th-6th century B.C.) animal style art found in the Tagar finials.
